


In Only Seven Days

by edgy_fluffball



Series: Tumblr prompts [11]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF, British Actor RPF
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Frankie Is A Princess, Gwilym Suffers Voluntarily, Homecoming, M/M, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 08:33:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17977913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgy_fluffball/pseuds/edgy_fluffball
Summary: Ben takes on more jobs and broadens his repertoire and experience. He has to leave Gwilym and Frankie at home from time to time. The effects are not easy to bear, for either of them.





	In Only Seven Days

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr prompt: "What a pretty sight" for @blingblingbubbles.

Usually, it took Gwilym half an hour to set up camp in front of the TV. He would have his feet kicked up on the coffee table – which he could only do when he was alone at home, his coffee mug in his hand and a plate of nibbles on the sofa next to him. But then he had discovered that there had been next to nothing in the fridge when he had first come home so he had taken Frankie out for a walk and stopped at the supermarket to stock up on a few items to last him a few days and the night with the dog. Walking home had been a test afterwards since he had not brought a bag in the first place. Frankie managed to snatch a tomato that had fallen to the ground and bit into it. She did not eat it entirely. Instead, she opened it up and squeezed the pulp out of it, looking up at him with big eyes, almost as if she knew that she was eating part of what he had planned as his dinner.

‘Seriously?’ Gwilym scooped his remaining shopping back up into his arms and tugged lightly on the leash, ‘come on then, troublemaker, let’s go home and actually have some food.’

Frankie huffed, looked at the tomato remains as if they had personally insulted her. She sniffed at them and Gwilym decided to continue walking before she decided to give it a second taste. He dragged her down the street, Frankie tried to stop every now and then, scouting out the neighbourhood. Gwilym could not always keep her nose out of the darker corners behind phone boxes, bins and newspaper stands. When he eventually got her to follow him around the corner and to their house, she seemed cross with him but tottered along the garden path in front of him. She waited at the door for him, turning her head to look from him to the door and back to him.

‘Yes, your majesty, I’m coming,’ he rolled his eyes and petted her head before unlocking the door with a barely free hand, ‘he treats you like a freaking princess and you exploit it like nothing else!’

Frankie huffed and squeezed herself through the gap between door and frame, leaving him to catch it with his toes before it could slam shut. Gwilym leaned back against the closed door and exhaled. A bag of crisps fell out of his arms and he heard Frankie scuttle towards him over the hardwood floor.

‘Stay away from that, you will keep me up all night because you need to be let into the garden, otherwise!’

She stopped and looked at him before turning around and disappearing into the living room. Gwilym sighed and picked up the crisps. He dumped his groceries in the kitchen and checked on Frankie before setting to work on the rest of the evening. She lay curled up in her basket, the corner of her pillow tugged over her small head.

‘Yeah, now you’re exhausted,’ he smiled at her and shook his head softly, ‘sleep it off, then.’

His routine was easy enough after that. Filling nibbles into bowls and cutting fruit took him little more than ten minutes. Brewing a tea added another six minutes but after a moment to stir in the right amount of milk, he could finally retire to his comfortable spot, the worn out corner of the sofa where his legs fit into the crease in the leather just perfectly.

He reached for the remote control on the table, switched the TV on and leaned back whilst he flicked through the programme. Lucy had recommended a channel to him that showed highlights of assorted fashion shows and runway programmes. Not much about it appealed to him. The women were too thin, wore clothes that could not really be regarded as such and generally had more in common with bin liners than dresses, and then there was the undeniable fact that they were women. Watching men on the shiny runway would have been a little more enjoyable, watching Ben model something the simplest joy he could imagine. Instead, he stuffed his mouth with crisps, cut fruit and a few gummy bears he had found in the back corner of a kitchen drawer, maybe the remains of Ben’s secret stash. He had kept it for a few months before someone had discovered it.

The music accompanying the fashion show thudded in the background, Gwilym was near sure that he would end up with a headache later on. Something about the music these shows used, combined with the flashing lights used to emphasise certain patterns and colours woven into cloth and plastic, made him wish his ears would stop working for the duration of it.

Unfortunately for his ears, one song transitioned seamlessly into the next one, making it impossible for him to catch a break as the next girl in sheer clothes and wrapped in plastic stalked down the catwalk. Gwilym raised his eyebrows.

‘Poor thing looks like she’s going to break in half, doesn’t she?’ he turned around over his shoulder and looked back at Frankie.

She lifted her head from her basket and woofed at him sleepily before stretching and yawning. Her paws made a soft sound on the floor as she walked across the room and towards him. Gwilym patted the seat next to him and she jumped onto the sofa, settling into his side. She had just about gotten comfortable when Gwilym lifted her into his lap, fingers stroking patterns into her fur. Her nose pressed against his stomach, dampening his shirt until he could feel the cold on his skin. His hand was big enough to fit her head into it and he cupped it gently as he petted her, soft fur silky under his fingertips. It was a good feeling, calming in contrast to the pounding electro music coming from the TV. Frankie sneezed into his shirt, he grinned down at her and changed his stroking pattern slightly to accommodate her new position. She thanked him by licking over his belt buckle.

‘This isn’t any more interesting for you than it is for me, huh?’

Frankie nodded off in his lap after wagging her tail violently against his leg. He was not quite sure whether he would have some bruises to show off afterwards or not but for the moment it felt hard enough to break his leg.

Once she was asleep, Gwilym tried not to disturb her too much whenever he reached for his bowls on the table. He managed to keep her asleep for a while, despite the music in the background. His eyes were still glued to the TV, nonetheless, scanning every frame.

The most interesting part were the audience reaction, anyway. Gwilym took every moment of it in, trying to spot a familiar face but most shots were too short to actually see something in the dim light that seemed to keep a focus on the empty runway, even in between presentations.

‘Now, where’s the point in that?’ he tickled Frankie’s ears absentmindedly, ‘Inviting all those people to advertise for their bloody event and then they don’t show them? They really don’t understand marketing.’

Frankie snuffed, whether in agreement or disagreement, Gwilym could not tell. He chose to see it as endorsement and hummed a little tune that clashed horribly with the most recent mix of dubstep and electro that tried to ruin his ears. It did not quite succeed in distracting him but kept the otherwise horrible noise at bay.

Another audience shot came up, Gwilym sat up a little straighter and looked over to once again take in every face that was shown in a matter of seconds. He saw well-coiffed manes, curls and slick dark heads, extravagant gowns, pressed suits and sequins glittering in the spotlights. What he didn’t see were the gelled blond curls he was looking for, or the outfit he had been promised to see.

‘There is no way I would watch this if I didn’t miss him, right? But it’s still hard,’ he sighed and leaned back until he felt the back rest in his neck, ‘I hate this fashion world, the stigma, stereotype and abuse that goes with it – why am I watching this, again?’

He felt like he betrayed Ben, whining about the very thing Ben got invited to the most. His boyfriend had made a name for himself as a fashionable young and fresh face in the industry, someone whose presence at a certain event promised fan attention, influence and headlines for a particular audience. According to their friends, it was only a matter of time until a designer asked for Ben to model their creations. Properly, not just for photoshoots and promotional purposes. Ben had rolled his eyes but since it had been Lucy, not Joe who suggested what a fine model he would make, he gave the snarky comment a miss and thanked her for the confidence boost. Gwilym could not forget how his eyes had sparkled a bit more afterwards, as if it had sparked a wish in his heart.

Ben had started to attend more fashion shows after Lucy’s comment on his potential model ability. Not that Gwilym resented his decision. It just led to Ben’s near-constant absence from their home which neither Frankie nor Gwilym appreciated for prolonged periods of time.

Who were to reproach him for missing his boyfriend and resorting to watching televised runway shows? The mere glimpses of Ben’s face got him through the day, until he lay in bed at night and his dreams caught up with the empty space beside him. He had allowed Frankie to sleep in their bedroom and dragged her basket upstairs every evening after she had yelped throughout the first night. She had tried to sneak into their bed, too but Gwilym had insisted on her staying in her designated space.

Frankie’s super talent could have been the sniffing out of emotional imbalances. She lifted her head off Gwilym’s lap, put her front paws on his chest and licked over his face.

‘Hey little lady, did you have a good sleep?’ he nuzzled her fur and pressed a kiss to her head, ‘Yes, I know, it’s not even late. I don’t know why I’m watching this, either. So far, your daddy is nowhere to be seen. I really hope they show him at some point. I miss him, you know? Merely a week gone and I feel incomplete. Weird how this feels so hard after only seven days.’

He looked over to the TV where another girl shaped like a matchstick walked over the runway and wiped at his eyes quickly, refocussing on the dog in his lap, ‘Huh, Frankie? Are you in the mood for food?’

Frankie huffed, jumped off the sofa and waddled towards the kitchen. Gwilym heaved himself off the sofa and followed her. When he opened the kitchen door he saw Frankie sit next to her bowl, looking up at him with big, hypnotic eyes.

‘Yes, m’lady, I am rushing to your aid,’ he opened the cupboard and took the box of dog food out, ‘he really spoils you rotten, you should know to appreciate that. But I know for a fact that you don’t!’

He bent over, groaning with stiffness in his knees to fill Frankie’s bowl.

‘What a pretty sight!’

Gwilym stood up straight as if someone had kicked him in the knees. He spun around on his heels, almost dropping the box to the ground. Frankie scrambled to gulp down the few pellets that had fallen out. She panted happily and turned back to her bowl.

Gwilym still stared at Ben who leant against the door frame and grinned at him like a Cheshire cat. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes glistened mischievous. It did not take much to imagine what Ben had referred to. He swallowed and tried to bring the words out that were stuck in his throat.

‘Were you staring at my arse?’ he sounded hoarse, cleared his throat and pulled the hem of his shirt down absentmindedly.

‘Best sight in the world,’ Ben pushed himself off the door frame and stepped further into the kitchen, ‘what did you do to Frankie, by the way, she’s all but ignoring me!’

‘Well, if you are never home –‘

‘Oh shut up,’ Ben threw himself at Gwilym, looping his arms around his neck and clinging to the cloth of his shirt. Their lips crushed together, Ben let out a groan and sucked Gwilym’s lip into his mouth.

Gwilym’s eyes slipped shut, he dug his fingers in Ben’s hips and pulled him against his body until he could feel his boyfriend pressed up against every square centimetre of his chest. He could smell Ben, the familiar mix of shampoo, soap, washing detergent and the faint scent of sweat that came with long journeys in air-conditioned vehicles under one layer of clothing too much. It all smelled perfectly balanced and exactly like Ben was supposed to smell.

They broke their kiss, both almost reverent about the way they needed to take a step back and breathe. Ben’s hands shook as they played with the neck of Gwilym’s shirt, he met his eyes and smiled at him, softer and more open.

‘I missed you,’ Gwilym whispered against his temple, eyes still half-way closed.

‘I missed you, too,’ Ben answered, ‘that’s why I cut my stay over there short and came back. I couldn’t bear being without you for a single hour longer.’

His last sentence went almost unintelligible since he pressed his face back into Gwilym’s shirt. A chuckle from Gwilym let on a little more.

‘I heard that,’ he said quietly, ‘and I would rib you for it but I think you might be a little knackered, it’s late and I will have to convince Frankie that she can now go back to sleeping outside of the bedroom.’

‘You spoil her just as much as I do,’ Ben said and nudged him a little, ‘she loves you for it and she does well in doing so.’

Gwilym swept Ben back into his arms and planted a kiss on his lips, ‘I love you, Ben.’

‘I know,’ once again, Ben’s eyes glistened, ‘you left the TV on, you know? Did you really start watching fashion shows to see me? That is so cute, baby.’

Gwilym blushed a deep red, ‘Don’t flatter yourself, that was for Frankie. She missed you more than I did.’

Ben grinned into Gwilym’s side as they staggered out of the kitchen and towards the stairs, ‘I switched it off when I came in. You were too busy bending over.’

Gwilym choked on nothing, he coughed and covered his face with a hand, despite it being so dark that Ben would not have seen his reaction. His boyfriend knew him well enough, anyway. Ben giggled. A hand found its way into Gwilym’s back pocket and squeezed.

Frankie stayed at the bottom of the stairs as Gwilym chased Ben up the stairs. She seemed to understand that the way he had yelped and her dad had jumped over his suitcase leaning against the wall meant the end of her time in the bedroom. She turned around to the living room with a graceful twirl. Her basket waited for her and she knew for sure that there were a few tasty crumbs under the coffee table. As she climbed into her basket with a last indignant huff, the shower was switched on upstairs. The troubles of a long journey, time apart and little aches were flushed away under hot water. When Gwilym and Bed climbed into bed together, it was for the first time in a week that they shared it. Like magnets they moved into the middle of the mattress, tangling their limbs together until nothing could have separated them. Ben’s head rested in the crook of Gwilym’s neck, his face hidden and Gwilym had wrapped his legs around his boyfriends’. Lazy lips traced patterns over warm skin, sending shivers down spines, fingers intertwined between their bodies and Gwilym buried his face in Ben’s soft hair. Their breathing slowed down simultaneously as they settled in their position, comfortable with each other close. They were finally back where they belonged.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr as edgy-fluffball and drop me a request :)


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